Newtownhamilton

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Newtownhamilton (Irish: An Baile Úr, meaning "the New Town") is a small village and civil parish in County Armagh, Northern Ireland. It is about 10 miles (16 km) west of Newry and sits in the Newry, Mourne and Down district.

The village is built around two main streets, Armagh Street and Dundalk Street, with a central town square called The Square. Other streets include Newry Street, Castleblaney Street (locally known as Blaney Hill), Shambles Lane and The Commons. Nearby residential areas are Dungormley Estate, Meadowvale and the Nine Mile Road.

Before the Plantation of Ulster, the area was known as Tullyvallan, derived from Irish Tulaigh Uí Mhealláin meaning "Ó Mealláin's hillock." The modern Irish name An Baile Úr means "the new town."

History matters: on 9 May 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, about 200 IRA volunteers attacked the Royal Irish Constabulary barracks in Newtownhamilton. After a two-hour firefight, the barracks wall was breached and the building was set alight, but the RIC surrendered only when they chose to. The attackers left the town by daybreak.

During The Troubles (late 1960s–1990s) Newtownhamilton saw significant violence, including the deadly Tullyvallen massacre. The British Army was present for many years, but its presence declined after the Good Friday Agreement. In 2006 the local police station was upgraded to full-time status following a bombing.

Today, Newtownhamilton is classified as a small town. In the 2011 census, the Newtownhamilton ward had 2,836 residents living in 956 households (average about 2.97 people per household). The civil parish includes the village and surrounding rural townlands.